The Hunter is a regional economic powerhouse which continues to outperform Tasmania, Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory in terms of economic output[1], maintaining its lead as the largest regional economy in Australia with a Gross Regional Product (GRP) in excess of $50 billion[2].
The NSW Department of Planning & Environment has set objectives to strengthen the region’s economic resilience, protect its well-established economic and employment bases and build on its existing strengths to foster greater market and industry diversification[3].
To support these objectives, Wildara conducted the 2019 Hunter Region Wellbeing Survey to assist governments and businesses to better understand aspects that strengthen quality of life as well as the perceived opportunities and challenges specific to the region. The survey focused on determining broad qualitative and quantitative performance metrics across the following six key areas:
- Participant Demographics
- Health
- Economic
- Community Planning
- Infrastructure & Development
- Public Safety.
Across all key areas the results were overwhelmingly positive; simply put, people love living in the Hunter Region and are motivated to ensure our region continues to thrive by building a competitive, resilient and diverse economy whilst maintaining a high standard of living conducive to raising a family.
As a Project Management company which specialises in managing the planning and delivery of built infrastructure for Government and private clients, we were also pleased to see the region’s indisputable support for the realisation of proposed major projects which will further strengthen the local economy, improve productivity and enhance our built environment.
Wildara would like to thank all 480 community members who volunteered their time by participating in this survey, enabling our team to put together this quality report.
To view the survey results, click here.
[1] NSW Government (2019, July 02) Goal 1 – The leading regional economy in Australia. Retrieved from https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au
[2] REMPLAN Economy (2019, July 02) Newcastle. Retrieved from https://www.economyprofile.com.au
[3] NSW Government (2019, July 02) Goal 1 – The leading regional economy in Australia. Retrieved from https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au
